Sleeping in

El Nido Travel Blog

The most photograph island around El Nido I guess - only one you can see from town

After last
night it is time to sleep in today just relaxing - first time on my trip I will
actually sleep in. But there is a bit of a catch to the concept of sleeping in.
The town is running solely on generator power. Which means the power will be
cut at 6 in
the morning. And shortly after 6
in the morning my sleep becomes restless as the fans
turns off and I start to struggle with the temperature in my room. After
spending a couple of more hours turning and twisting I decide that sleep is not
really all that important - I can sleep when I get old - and I get out of bed.

El Nido got
its charms being so small and still off the main tourist drag - but it is
developing very fast - too fast for its own good I think.

Boat going by just before sunset

Last year there was
no hotel in El Nido - this year there is a hotel in El Nido. Two years ago
there was only one internet place in El Nido - now there are several internet
places all over town. The place is about to join the 21st century. And sure I
can see the advantages for the people living in the town but for me coming as a
tourist the attraction of the places is gonna disappear in a few years as it is
getting overdeveloped.

But I guess
when I meet somebody ten years from now telling me - yeah I have just been to
El Nido - and they got lots of hotel with aircon and 24 hour power everyday.
Then I can tell - nice - but I went to El Nido when it was the real deal - when
they only had power from 6 till 6 and they had zoning meaning there is a schedule
determining which part of the town got power which night - the rest will get
there power cut from 6 till around 9 at night.

See this is the real deal and
not a common tourist trap like this place is quickly moving towards with all
the construction going on frequently around the town. So if you wanna go to El
Nido run - oh run - before it is too late and the place is long gone.

The rest of
the day I just walk a bit around the town - which really don't take very long -
then you been on every street 4-5 times. Rest of the day I am just hanging out
looking at the ocean and trying to read - not doing a good job at it. Then time
for one last big effort - the sunset - the beautiful sunset of Palawan.

Nice that you mention the ongoing development.... which i spose people dont normally think about! Fortunately, I am Planning a trip in 2010, so hope it wont be too over developed and lose its tranquille reputation!! ;)